Biography

Debmalya Ray Choudhuri (b. 1992) is a photographer and writer from India currently based in New York. He deals with the themes of identity, sexuality, love, home and memory using a very personal and intense approach.He sees photography as an interface with the world, a way to confront it, a way to desire and define his position in the world. His practice has its roots in the need to take distance from the chaos of the surroundings, and get intimate, physically and emotionally, in places where the hunt is more lyrical, delicate, sometimes strong and operating in the region between fear and desire. Over time, the creative practice has naturally flowed from finding a sense of belonging to one place, to connecting to people by establishing closeness to one person at a time. This way, the author tries to understand the why’s and how’s people express desire and love and uses photography to converse with them. He uses these experiences, and conversations with strangers and friends to build the complex play of what it means to be here, to struggle and to live in a broader sociopolitical realm of existence. The lines between the subject and the photographer are blurred and fluid in his work. These dual conversations open new perspectives on the relationship between the Self and the Other.

He has spent time taking classes at The International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York and currently works on long term projects on ideas of desire, relationships and longing to a place.

He has published his work in magazines and platforms in India like Better Photography India, Inspiro India, Asian Photography magazine and international publications on The Guardian, The BBC, British Journal of Photography ,The Telegraph UK, National Geographic,Invisible Photographer Asia, MonoVisions, contemporary art platforms like Phroom magazine, FishEye magazine, Feature Shoot, Loeil de la Photographie, Editor's pick in OpenWalls Arles, British Journal Of Photogaphy,Ignant. He has displayed across the country and abroad like Blank Wall gallery,Athens, India Habitat Center, Focas Photo festival Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University, Rochester Fringe Festival. He also received several awards in his journey till now, notable ones being honorable mentions in Neutral Density Awards 2016, International Photographer of the Year 2016, International Photography Awards(IPA), Sony World Photo Awards. He was awarded as emerging photographer from Calcutta by Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation, Mumbai and has also been part of national art residencies with the Piramal Foundation, Mumbai. He was a part of a contemporary art movement across India called The Narrative Arts movement (2017). Recently he has worked with an Italian research school Spazio Labo under mentor Elinor Carucci as part of Photo Workshop New York and have also worked under Antoine d’Agata for a Magnum workshop “What It Means to be here” in Brooklyn, New York. He has assisted Antoine d’Agata at a Magnum workshop in Miami Photo Festival, 2019.